Today, Azerbaijani people pause to pay tribute to their fellow citizens who were killed in one of the most brutal acts in the last moments of the Soviet Empire, an event known around the world as the Black January.

In the early morning hours and into the day of January 20, 199A, Soviet tanks and troops invaded Baku - the capital city of Azerbaijan attacking innocent civilians, slaughtering 132 people and wounding around 700. January 2A, 1990 is a day r,vhich went down in history of the struggle for the freedom and territorial integrity of Azerbaijan, as a heroism page.

The use of force by the Soviet regime was a response to Azerbaijan's popular demand for independence. In fact, Azerbujan was the first among the former Soviet republics to mount a serious move toward independence. However, despite the bloodshed, the Soviet leadership was unable to stop the quest for freedom of the Azerbaijani people and only 20 months after Azerbaijan declared its independence. "The Black Jamrary" demonstrated the will and courage of people no longer fearing the terror deployed by the Soviet Union to provide loyalty among its subjects and preferring freedom to the stability maintained under the Soviet system's violence and stranglehold.